Sun
Archive for August, 2008
TomTom GPS Navigator & Alpine Blackbird Navigation System brand new on the market
Friday, August 29th, 2008Lowell Conn
Sun
Alpine PND-K3 Blackbird Portable Navigation System
TomTom XL 330-S
1. Navigation done well — TomTom, the company so nice they named it twice, has introduced the XL 330-S navigator, which arrives with an 11-centimetre-wide screen, detailed maps of North America, millions of points of interest and a built-in text-to-speech technology that will vocalize road names during turn-by-turn directions.
It also features the ability to download celebrity voice prompts.
So enamoured am I with the potential of having Gary Busey saying interesting words on the road that I am planning a road trip to the weirdest-named streets in North America just to hear my celebrity-voiced GPS unit say them out loud. (Some of the more profane examples can be found at www.freakstreets.com.)
Another prominent feature is the ability to download customizable maps, offering users a chance to improve the navigation data in real time. If this unit feels familiar, it is because it’s similar to the XL 130-S that was featured here a few months ago, a product that has a screen that’s 2.5 cm smaller. $300; visit www.tomtom.com.
2. Multimedia navigation done well — Alpine’s Blackbird navigation series has the distinction of being the only car electronics named after a Beatles song. But, surely, there is more to say about the newly released PND-K3
Blackbird Portable Navigation System, which features an 11 cm touchscreen, six million points of interest, North American map data, Bluetooth compatibility, turn-by-turn voice prompts with street identification, an SD Card slot for MP3 and WMA playback and language support for English, Spanish and French.
It has an alternative 3-D map view for people who are bored with the tired old aerial perspective.
The device is capable of being controlled via voice recognition. Consumers looking to pay more for Bluetooth and assorted multimedia options in a dedicated navigation device may find a good match here. $550; visit www.alpine.com.
3. Credit-card worthy — There is no denying that consumers will have to foot a big bill to own Dual’s XDVDN8190, which retails for more than $1,000.
The only question is whether this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink offering merits its lofty price tag.
This device has a motorized 18 cm touchscreen monitor, complete iPod control, Bluetooth with built-in microphone, compatibility with every video and audio format one could imagine, caller ID information on-screen, GPS featuring maps of North America and the requisite navigation options not to mention a host of input and output ports that will host rear-view camera, rear-zone video and auxiliary audio devices.
Should I mention that all of this technology fits snugly into a single-DIN compartment? The only thing this device does not come with, but should, is a financing plan so everyone could enjoy this marvel.
But this is what credit cards were intended for — or so I hope. $1,200; visit www.dualav.com.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel at 1011 W Cordova will be wrapped by British Artists poetry
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Bruce Constantineau
Sun
STUART DAVIS/VANCOUVER SUN
If you walk by the corner of Burrard and Cordova next summer, you’ll be able to admire the city’s newest hotel tower and read poetry at the same time. The text of an original poem by British artist Liam Gillick will wrap around the southern and eastern exteriors of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, running all the way up to the 23rd floor.
The opening line was briefly visible this week, but now is carefully covered up. It reads: “lying on top of a building … the clouds looked no nearer.”
Project developer Ian Gillespie won’t reveal the rest of the text, which will be unveiled when the hotel opens next year. But he expects to spend significantly more than the $767,000 budgeted for the public art component of the Fairmont development.
Gillespie noted the Shaw Tower had a public art budget of about $400,000 but he spent more than $1 million creating an LED light-tube art installation that extends along the entire height of that building.
“The piece I put on the Shaw Tower added more value to the building than I paid and I know the value of the Fairmont piece will add more value than I’m going to put into it,” he said in an interview.
Gillespie, president of Westbank Projects Corp., said public art in Vancouver needs some “pizzazz” and the poetry-onbuilding concept is a step in the right direction.
“Much of the public art in Vancouver is very subtle, but this piece is not subtle and the piece at [the Woodward’s project at Hastings and Carrall] is not subtle,” he said. “I wanted them to grab you by the throat and make a difference.
“You’re going to walk or drive by that building and you won’t forget it.”
Westbank is also developing the Woodward’s project and has commissioned Vancouver artist Stan Douglas to create a large photographic mural of the area’s living history that will be displayed in the development’s public atrium.
Gillespie said the recreated shot of a historical scene speaks to the history of Woodward’s in a “very dynamic way” and Douglas plans to unveil the work at a New York exhibition in October.
He said people will be fascinated by Gillick’s poem on the new hotel building.
“It’s about the fact that whether you’re a billionaire or a regular Joe walking down the street, your perception of reality may be the same,” Gillespie said. “There’s a bit of a social statement there.”
He said art inside the new hotel rooms will “play off” the theme created by the outside text.
Oh-my-God moments at Cibo
Thursday, August 28th, 2008TRATTORIA Revitalized Italian cooking brings out bliss and shows off taste of local ingredients
Mia Stansby
Sun
Sahara Tamarin shows off the seared scallops with organic baby beetroots and leeks available at the newly opened Cibo on Seymour Street in Vancouver. WARD PERRIN / Vancouver Sun
Recently, I wrote about the hot action around Trattoria Italian Kitchen on West Fourth, where really good-deal meals and super-friendly service created bonfires of excitement inside the room and out the door.
And now there’s Cibo in the Moda Hotel, another great little trattoria. It’s part of a welcome resurrection of French and Italian food in the city, and these cuisines have returned in better form than ever. The focus is on fabulous local ingredients and cooking that opens up their inner beauty. That’s always been the way in Italy, and now it’s the way of the revitalized Italian food here.
Cibo is a little more “downtown-y” and refined — and, certainly, more expensive — than Trat Italian Kitchen (although still casual).
My first visit was just after its quiet opening, and it needed more buzz. The joint was not jumping.
“Maybe a reviewer will come in,” a hotel guest said to the hostess as she checked out the place for dinner later. (That was the one time I really wanted to out myself as a critic, since a neighbouring diner was going on and on about how all restaurant critics are fat. “I’m a Size 2,” I wanted to inform Ms. Know-It-All. But I digress.)
On a later visit to Cibo, we blissed out over many of the dishes. The chef, Neil Taylor, obviously takes pride in what he does. (He has cooked at the celebrated River Cafe in London, where Jamie Oliver was discovered and where fresh, vibrant ingredients are most important.)
Taylor’s skill showed in the first food to hit the table, the bread. (Actually, it was ciabatta.) It was oh-my-God delicious. A nice crunch to the crust, tall and spongy inside. It came with excellent olive oil. Of course, I was nearly full by the time I finished half the basket, but, my goodness, was it ever worth it.
Another surprise was the calf’s liver. I normally take a wide detour around it, thanks to having been tortured with it as a kid. But this was good, its mild flavour enhanced with pancetta.
“Silk pasta sheets” with yellow beans, potatoes and pesto took pasta to another level. It really was sheer, like silk.
Another pasta, lobster tagliatelle, featured lovely noodles, but the lobster was tough.
“Smashed” heirloom tomato and basil salad was transcendent. It was perfectly seasoned with quality salt — so good, in fact, that I tipped the bowl, glug-glugging the remaining juices, cutting loose from civilized behaviour.
Prawn brodo (broth) was delicate and featured very fresh prawns.
My seared scallops were large and plump and fine but didn’t distinguish themselves.
And I’ve never been infected by the eagerness for stuffed zucchini flower (with ricotta, in this case). Although it’s fun to cook with a large flower blossom, the result is too limp and lame. I can’t say it was any different here. I’d rather it were stuffed with something sturdier.
Char-grilled leg of lamb with potato, artichoke, leek, fennel and salsa verde was delicious, and I liked the rustic offering of baked ling cod with potatoes, olives, capers, majoram and lemon.
Desserts were a pleasure. Chocolate Nemesis is a mousse morphing into a ganache; the lemon tart is expertly made, albeit a recurring dessert in many restaurants.
Sebastien Le Goff is the man behind Cibo; he also runs the smart little wine bar, Uva, on the other side of the hotel.
(Actually, Moda Hotel is bursting with designer food and wine. You could easily become weak-kneed over at Viti Wine and Lager Store, next door to Cibo. It has 150 imported beers, endless whiskies and a serious selection of wines. My guy left with bags clinking with bottles of Belgian beers.)
Cibo features many of these delicious beers, as well as a choice list of Italian wines, backed by some bottles of B.C. wine and a stellar selection of prosecco and other Italian bubblies (more than 30 offerings).
The coffee’s worth mentioning too. It’s incredibly good!
Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel at 1011 W Cordova will be wrapped by British Artists poetry
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Verse by British artist wraps around Fairmont
Spring rolls a Sweet start
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Maybe I caught popular spot on a bad day
Mark Laba
Province
Be sure to try the excellent chicken satay (front dish), as displayed by Sweet Chili Cafe’s Angie Tan
SWEET CHILI CAFE
Where: 5438 Victoria Dr.
Payment/reservations: Cash only, 778-371-8092
Drinks: Soft drinks
Hours: Tues.-Fri., lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dinner 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m., Sat.-Sun., 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m., closed Mondays
Incongruity is the key to having the senses slapped silly in the face of mundanity. Which means you’re going along with your usual day, nose to the old grindstone when suddenly a man waltzing with an inflatable pig emerges from the Skytrain, winking as he glides past you moving to the inaudible lilting harmonies of “The Blue Danube.” There’s not much that’ll make you look up from your Starbucks, but this might do the trick.
A bit extreme, you might say (if he were waltzing with, say, a walrus wearing a chiffon prom dress, you might look the other way yawning), but even the minor incongruities can send shock waves through the brain. So it was with Peaches and me as we approached this tiny (and by tiny I mean about as big as an organ grinder monkey’s underpants) eatery. Peaches spotted a place across the street that was both a convenience store and a fish shop. By fish I don’t mean the fish you eat but rather pet fish like the kind you take for a walk on a leash in your bathtub.
“Who would buy aquarium fish from a convenience store?” Peaches pondered. At that moment two people came out of the shop carrying a large container imprinted with the warning, Handle With Care, Live Fish.
“They would, I guess,” I ventured.
Our next vexing vision occurred at the counter of the restaurant. It’s a hole-in-the-wall kind of place — well really two holes in the wall being as there’s one to get in and one leading to the kitchen. With this type of venue you expect the most rudimentary of attire when it comes to your waiter or, in this case, counterperson. So when a young man with a rather elaborate Indonesian-style headscarf accented with gold designs emerged from the back room, Peaches and I were both taken offguard. There was a kind of regality to the head adornment that seemed out of place with the meagre surroundings, like putting on a tuxedo to mow the lawn or catching Prince Charles in a pay toilet.
Not that the attire didn’t make sense. After all, this was an Indonesian restaurant, but essentially there’s nothing in the place besides four tables with nice batik tablecloths, a few paintings, a plant, a floor-model air purifier, a microwave and a cash register. Not enough room to swing a cat or a Balinese shadow puppet and in the décor-department a little off the mark, albeit sincere in its determination.
I was hoping this bit of panache would also be evident in the food. So off we went with two starters — chicken satay ($6.95) and spring rolls ($4.95). Both were excellent with a wonderful homemade and spicy peanut sauce for the chicken skewers and the veggie and shrimp spring rolls done to a perfect crispiness. So far, so good.
Next up an order of beef rendang ($7.95), a dish I happen to love almost more than my wife and some nasi kari ayam otherwise known as green curry chicken ($7.50). Now if Ron Popeil had been dining with me instead of Peaches, I’m sure he would have exclaimed, “By gosh, they must be using one of my food dehydrators in the kitchen.” I know there are versions of beef rendang where the sauce is cooked away until all that’s left is a spicy and aromatic paste, but the process is supposed to leave the meat tender. This beef was as dry as a well-used saddle and as tough as the guy who sat in it. The chicken was a bit more tender but only slightly and there was no white meat. I always think a mix of white and dark makes for a happy curry plate. I’m not exactly sure what went wrong here. Some folks I know were enthusiastic about the place, so maybe I caught it on a bad day. Or maybe the cook was trying out a new Ronco product and things went awry in the kitchen.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
RATINGS: Food: C Service: B Atmosphere: C
© The Vancouver Province 2008
Web smarts key to kids’ safety online
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Comic tackles issues of exploitation in cyberspace
Lisa Hrabluk
Province
Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance has partnered with Nelvana to create a cyber-safety comic featuring characters from YTV’s hit show Grossology.
Today’s children need to be Web smart and street smart because there are just as many dangers waiting for them online as there are outside their door.
Teaching children and teens to protect their personal information and to be careful about what they share online and with whom is key to keeping them safe.
However, blanket statements, such as “don’t talk to strangers,” won’t work for children and teens who are immersed in an interactive world, whether through social-networking sites, such as Club Penguin and Facebook, or involved in multiplayer online role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft and EVE Online.
“The social web is all about sharing information and making friends online,” said Cathy Wing, coexecutive director of the Media Awareness Network (www.media-awareness.ca), a pioneering Canadian non-profit organization that promotes media and Internet awareness.
“It’s important for adults to know what kind of socialization is happening. Kids don’t understand the power of a permanent record, something that can be seen by so many people in such a public way.”
About 94 per cent of young Canadians access the Internet from home and children as young as Grade 4 are exploring social roles, connecting to friends and developing social networks online, according to a 2005 Media Awareness Network study, Young Canadians in a Wired World.
Wing recommends parents talk
to their children about Web use, including establishing specific rules about Internet use and teaching children critical thinking about the information they view and exchange online.
“Rules make a big difference in kids’ behaviour even up to Grade 11,” said Wing, who said the network has paired up with Telus to offer Web-awareness seminars to its employees.
“We asked kids to articulate a positive online experience and the statement ‘my parents would approve of this site’ rated quite high.”
But advocates for safe surfing agree that the best way for parents and guardians to keep kids safe is to know what they’re doing online.
The Media Awareness Network offers parents guidelines on raising media and Internet savvy kids through its Web Aware program (www.bewebaware.ca).
It’s not alone. The Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance, a Canadian volunteer-run advocacy group, has partnered with Canadian children’s entertainment company Nelvana to launch Web of Deception, a cyber-safety comic book featuring the characters from the YTV show Grossology.
KINSA is particularly concerned with preventing the online exploitation of children and a significant portion of its efforts involves lobbying governments for stronger legislation and to raise awareness of safety issues with kids, parents, teachers, business people and legislators.
“The Internet is huge,” said KINSA vice-chairman Michael Ras.
“Police can’t do it alone, an educator can’t teach them everything and a parent can’t watch the content all the time, but if we all get together we can get something done.”
Go to the KINSA website at www.kinsa.net.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
Martin Wirick – Ex Lawyer & Developer Tarsem Gill charged with $30M Real Estate Fraud Scheme
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008David Baines
Sun
Martin Wirick faces multiple charges as a result of a six-year investigation into one of the biggest frauds in B.C. history. Vancouver Sun files
A marathon investigation into one of the biggest financial frauds in B.C. history concluded Tuesday with multiple charges against former Vancouver lawyer Martin Wirick and Vancouver real estate developer Tarsem Singh Gill.
Wirick was arrested at his Vancouver workplace, Koko’s Gourmet Pet Foods in North Vancouver, and Gill near his Ross Street home in South Vancouver on Tuesday by members of the special RCMP-Vancouver police task force that conducted the six-year investigation.
Both men were later released. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance on Sept. 15.
Wirick and Gill are charged with two counts of fraud and theft against 77 different homeowners, and two counts of fraud and theft against lenders in 30 different loan transactions.
Wirick is also charged with two counts of uttering false documents and Gill with one count of possession of stolen property.
The total amount of money alleged to have been unlawfully taken from homeowners and lenders exceeds $30 million.
The biggest victim, however, was the B.C. Law Society. Its special compensation fund, which insures clients for lawyer fraud, paid out $38.4 million in claims on account of Wirick’s alleged misconduct.
“As far as we know, not a single person lost their home over this,” society president John Hunter said in an interview. “We are quite proud of that.”
To pay for the claims, the law society imposed special assessments of $600 per year on each of its 10,000 lawyer members. (That assessment has since been reduced to $150 per year.)
Gill’s method of operation — as described in the Benchers’ Bulletin (the law society’s in-house publication) — was to develop a property and sell it to one of his nominees. The nominee would arrange a mortgage on the property and then sell it to an innocent purchaser.
The purchaser, in turn, would arrange financing from his lending institution and forward the money to Wirick on his undertaking to pay off the original mortgage loan and register a new first mortgage. But rather than disburse the money as promised, Wirick simply paid the funds to Gill and his Vanview group of companies.
In many cases, Wirick would provide false discharge documents, and a portion of the purloined money would be used to keep the original mortgage payments current, so neither the purchaser nor the original mortgage lender would be any wiser.
The new mortgage lender, meanwhile, naturally assumed he had obtained a first mortgage against the property. But since the original mortgage hadn’t really been discharged, he was actually in second position.
In some cases, this process was repeated, enabling Gill to mortgage the property many times over and generate more money than it was worth. Eventually the scheme collapsed, revealing a tangled web of transactions, mortgages and competing claims.
When the scheme was uncovered, law society officials took over Wirick’s practice and audited his books and records. They also obtained access to Gill’s records through the court, which gave them a good idea of where the money went.
The society found that, from January 1998 to May 2002, $52.7 million passed through Wirick’s trust accounts to Gill and his companies.
Of this amount, $32.6 million was used for development and construction costs; $12.5 million was paid to lending institutions to keep mortgages up to date, including those that should have been discharged; $3.2 million was paid to Gill and related parties and only $600,000 to Wirick.
The fraud was discovered in the spring of 2002. Wirick resigned from the society in May that year. He subsequently declared bankruptcy and obtained relatively menial employment at the pet food business. Gill has continued to develop property in the Vancouver area.
After the alleged fraud was detected, Vancouver police embarked on what they described as the biggest commercial crime investigation in VPD history. So big, it turns out, that they couldn’t handle it.
In June 2004, after several false starts, the Vancouver RCMP commercial crime section and the Vancouver police financial crimes unit formed a joint task force to investigate the matter.
Law society officials earlier made no secret of their frustration with the pace of the police investigation, but on Tuesday, when charges were finally laid, diplomacy prevailed.
“Obviously they have been some time coming, but we are satisfied that charges have been laid,” said Hunter.
At the time of the alleged fraud, the law society had a $17.5-million annual cap on client claims for lawyer fraud. Clearly this was not going to be enough to compensate Wirick’s victims. So the society, to its credit, removed the cap.
Since then, the law society has moved to limit payouts on account of lawyer fraud to $300,000 per transaction, with a cumulative cap of $17.5 million in any one year.
Hunter also said the law society has stepped up its auditing of lawyer’s trust accounts and directed its members to advise the society when financial institutions take undue time providing mortgage discharges — a procedural weakness that Wirick and Gill used to advance their alleged scheme.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
Banff’s main street gets a new look
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008$23-million project controversial, but now popular with residents and tourists
Michele Gurney
Sun
An all-hybrid bus fleet is part of the Town of Banff’s commitment to the environment. Even the lighting in the downtown core is designed so it is possible to see the stars without straining. – PHOTOS BY: TOWN OF BANFF
Curved arm rests mimic the look of bighorn sheep
A Banff artist has designed bronze sidewalk art featuring a buffalo, a wolf and other wildlife.
BANFF, Alta. — Banff Avenue has a new look.
If you’re like me, you used to go to Banff on your summer holiday and, if you were lucky, on school ski trips.
Most of us have memories of never wandering too far from Tunnel Mountain Campground, wondering whether Minnewanka Loop really was a loop, and buying more candy than one child should consume in a year on an early Saturday morning trek to Welch’s.
Today, the walk down Banff Avenue is distinctly different. The Town of Banff has just wrapped up a $23-million project called Banff Refreshing.
The town’s underground infrastructure — water and sewer pipes — was more than 100 years old and needed to be replaced. So the town took the opportunity to refresh its streetscape to make it more pedestrian-friendly and reflective of a street in a National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“The street was devoid of trees and places for people to sit and take in the views,” says Randall McKay, Banff’s planning and development manager.
Now, he says, “it’s two blocks of heaven.” And he’s not the only one who thinks Banff is better than ever. Visitors and residents are lauding Banff Refreshing.
Town officials are hearing positive comments from Banff Avenue business and residents who weren’t so supportive of the infrastructure plan when they realized how it might affect their daily lives for 15 months while construction was underway.
Now that it’s finished, everyone is happy. The sidewalks are twice as wide, so the locals are no longer forced to use the alleys to escape the crowds at the height of summer. There are twice as many crosswalks, so you can easily cut across to favourite restaurants and shops.
A mix of indigenous trees in landscaping beds is framed by large Rundlestone boulders from a local quarry. New street furniture has metal arm rests shaped to mimic the horns of the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. New lighting, with toppers, has been designed to reflect tree tops and the turrets of the famed Banff Springs Hotel.
Lights are also considerate of night-sky viewing (yes, you can actually see the Big Dipper from a downtown core in Canada). Solar-panelled trash compactor cans reduce garbage pickup.
The numbers of bike racks are up and street parking is out, leaving Banff Avenue with great sight lines. A local artist designed bronze sidewalk art featuring caribou, wolf and buffalo who guard their respective street corners.
Everything is custom and feels like it belongs here, says McKay, who believes Banff has created one of the most successful pedestrian environments in North America.
He’s also quick to point out that although Banff is redeveloping parts of the town, growth is being managed within a finite footprint that will never be expanded. Banff’s development is moving ahead with a greater consciousness of how much space people should take up within one of the most significant protected areas in the world. The philosophy takes into account how buses, buildings and even garbage bins fit within the landscape; how materials on a street reflect its national park surroundings.
While many residents believe businesses like the Gap or Tony Roma’s don’t belong in Banff, town officials are trying to manage commercial growth to maintain the right mix of mom-and-pop shops with more well-known chains.
The Refreshing plan was developed in the early ’90s by world-renowned landscape architects Design Workshop, based in Aspen, and Landplan and Associates in Calgary.
Because Banff didn’t have the funding then, to move the project forward, four test sites were installed over a 10-year period. This allowed the town to try different materials, watching how products and colours weathered and checking to see how certain plants thrived or failed.
The process served the town well when it refined the plan in 2001. Thanks to a special grant from the provincial government, Banff was able to bring its prototypes to life this summer. The result is breathtaking.
“We are fortunate in terms of what we had to work with,” says McKay. “The natural beauty of the park defines and shapes the town. The street was tired. We needed to refresh the main street to remain competitive with other mountain resorts throughout the world. The street now celebrates our authentic sense of place and will stand the test of time,” he says. “We have brought nature back into the built environment.”
Michelle Gurney is communications manager for the Town of Banff
IF YOU GO
– Check out www.banff.ca or www.banfflakelouise.com for the latest news and events. The Parks Canada website, at www.pc.gc.ca/banff, is a great resource to learn more about the history of the area.
– Travel on Roam, Banff’s new public-transit fleet featuring larger-than-life wildlife imagery. Banff is the first community in the country to launch an all-hybrid bus fleet. Trips cost just $2 one way, and buses go to all the town’s sites and attractions.
– To learn more about Banff Live, the all-day concert on Thursday to celebrate Banff Refreshing, visit www.banff.ca
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
Recreational Property Buying Tips 101 in BC
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008POINTERS FOR PROCURING YOUR OWN PERSONAL PIECE OF PARADISE:
Province
The Galiano Inn and Spa on Galiano Island has redesigned itself as a recreational quarter-share property and cool holiday getaway.
Have you been thinking about buying a recreational property? If so, the long weekend will be a perfect time to have a look at some properties. Here are some tips to get you started:
Consider going south
Point Roberts – considered part of Washington state – is on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula. The area is home to many Canadian property owners who pay significantly lower prices there compared to comparable properties on the Canadian side. And you don’t have to worry about long lineups at the border (they’re short!). A perk of having a place on the U.S. side is you can fill up on cheaper gas before trekking north. Something to consider is that you can’t bring liquor or produce over the border, so you’ll have to buy these items in Point Roberts. And make sure you have a passport!
The bigger the island, the higher the price
Determine for yourself the price you’re willing to pay for convenience and amenities. Salt Spring Island is the biggest and most populated of the Gulf Islands but also the most expensive. Pender Island is a close second. If you have money to put into a home on one of the more developed islands but don’t want to be too far from the creature comforts to be found in a small city, these are good options.
Share the property
If you’re really intent on scoring the property of your dreams but unwilling to pay the full price, think about joint ownership, suggests Andrew Peck, a past president of the B.C. Real Estate Association. Half and quarter shares make a fantasy recreational property more affordable. It’s even something that condominium developers have caught on to.
In the Gulf Islands, several properties are in the business of arranging joint property shares for homeowners by allocating property availability depending on the owners’ needs. The trend first began in Whistler, but over the past five years it has spread to the islands.
Sharing the property can work for you in the long run because the property will be occupied and maintained regularly. A downside is you’ll be paying a premium price for it. Peck estimates that a quarter share in a “nice development” could cost you upwards of $200,000.
Do the homework
When you have whittled your choices down to one or even two areas you’d like to buy in, finding a local realtor is the most important first step, Peck says. They’ll have specialized knowledge on the area and can offer you insights you might otherwise have ignored.
And don’t forget the money. If you’ll be applying for a loan, the good news is that the bank will look at the equity in your personal home and consider it good security. But you’ll have to make sure that you can afford the mortgage on the recreational place on top of your current home.
Can you handle it?
If the real estate market ever goes belly up, recreational properties are the first to go, says Peck. Make sure that when you buy a second home that you can afford it even if the economy goes through tough times. Don’t overbuy. Make sure that you can foreseeably continue to own it. And don’t forget to factor in the maintenance costs of having a recreational home. Wind and snow storms are not uncommon and can mean trouble for pipes and nearby trees.
